Islanders beat Blackhawks to inch closer to playoff cutline with reinforcements on horizon

Nobody throws parties for NHL-.500.But the Islanders just might be in the mood after a day that started with good news and ended with a victory. They can see a healthy team on the horizon, with Mat Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech all being full participants at a morning skate for the first time since getting hurt. They can see the playoff cutline in their sights, now a point behind a spot and behind the struggling Rangers only due to games in hand, with both teams at 31 points. The goal has been to tread water until healthy, and after beating the Blackhawks, 5-4, at UBS Arena on Thursday, the Islanders are back at NHL-.500 — the definition of treading water — with wins in three of their past four and a group of injured stars getting close to returning. That is as good a spot as the Islanders have been in all season. They may not look a few players away from being a Cup contender, and though the score did not reflect it, the performance Thursday night did not really get going until the third period.But the standings right now certainly imply the Islanders are a few players away from being a playoff team — and it appears they are getting close to having those players back. In any case, the way the Isles put the game away in a resounding third period will wash away any worries about a slow start. After Patrick Roy juggled his lines in the second period, with Bo Horvat between Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall while Max Tsyplakov went back to skating with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, the Isles settled their game down. A pair of long-range, second-period goals from Dennis Cholowski and Simon Holmstrom — the first coming seconds after a power play expired — let the Islanders take a 2-1 lead into the last 20 minutes. That scenario is awfully familiar to the Islanders and not in a good way. But the third-period demons did not come out Thursday.

Instead, quite the opposite. The Islanders quickly built on their lead, with Noah Dobson capitalizing ...